In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot – Mark Twain
The government is on a tight timetable to enact several pieces of legislation before parliament has to be dissolved before the next general election. A peek at the Order Paper of the House of Assembly for next Tuesday’s sitting announces a number of bills, among them the long awaited Prevention of Corruption Bill 2010 which was sent to a Joint Committee in July 2011. Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart has promised the country his government still has work to do, which confirms the belief in many quarters that Stuart may become the first Prime Minister to go the extra time which the constitution affords before calling the next general election.
While many Barbadians agree that our legislative framework needs to be strengthened to efficiently guide how we order our society. The process of enacting such legislation – to be effective – must encourage wide collaboration with stakeholders and facilitate rigorous debate to ensure there is fit for purpose. BU does not want to believe that in the government’s haste to enact legislation, the quality of the effort is compromised at the altar of political expediency.
The Preservation Of Antiquities And Relics Bill piloted by Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley was pull back from final reading because of public outcry. This is after the draft bill had been widely circulated according to the minister. Common sense supports the view that if the draft bill was widely circulated and all pertinent feedback incorporated into the final draft Minister Lashley would not have egg on his face as a result of the bill not having an uneventful passage through both houses of parliament.
The proposed Cultural Industries Bill (CIB) is another piece of legislation which has the potential to be transformational – if correctly drafted. The fact that in 2012 Barbados is debating this legislation should be an embarrassment for the country. A large part of the blame must be saddled on local artistes whose crabs in barrel approach over the years has made them susceptible to manipulation by politicians. In the last 20 years we have followed a lazy approach to developing our economy by depending on tourism and international business. Our inability to have created enabling legislation to spur growth in the cultural and creative industries must be recorded as one of two failures by post-Independent governments, the other, the development of a renewable energy sector.
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It therefore comes as a surprise to learn that a group of concerned cultural citizens – who have culture at heart – have been trying to meet with Minister Stephen Lashley to discuss proposed amendments to the CIB with no success to date. BU has had sight of the recommendations by the concerned citizens group (posted below) and the recommendations appear to add tremendous value to the original CIB draft which BU has been critical. Now why would the minister not want to meet with a group of citizens trying to help him push through a solid bill?
A big criticism many have of this government is the lethargic way it approaches how it does business. The CIB is a significant piece of legislation and the minister should do less micro-managing the affairs of the National Cultural Foundation and allocate more time to ensuring he gets the redraft of the CIB right. Why wait until the bill reaches parliament to be forced to confront the same recommendations made by the group of concerned cultural citizens?
Here is another example of a government minister refusing to meet with ordinary citizens who want to contribute but instead an inflated ego gets in the way.
Documents leaked to BU:
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